Colliding with Fate

~Two~

Claire slept over the following Friday and Saturday night. My big brother, Ethan, decided to come into the living room and pester us.

Ethan was nineteen and a freshman in college. He took classes online so he could work at the family business with dad in the meantime.

Ethan shared my blue eyes, but he received my mother's dark hair. He was tall and fit. In high school, I watched all the girls fawn over my big brother with disgust. He would always use them and then go to the next one. It was like that for years... Until my sophomore year, when he was a senior.

Ethan's senior year consisted of no girls at all, no parties, no nothing. He changed. It was like he was a new person. I didn't even really recognize him. He had "matured" and was "beginning to see women as a treasure instead of a toy" is what he would say, and I believed it. He gave me no reason not to.

But I mean honestly? Where had the real Ethan gone?

Now, he just stayed at home working on getting his Bachelor's degree in business and was working under dad's wing, learning how the business functioned and why they do what they do.

But if someone asked me about the family business, I really wouldn't be able to tell them anything about it. I had no clue what we did or how we earned our money or who we talked to. I was uneducated in that department.

I decided it was best if I spent my time with my best friend instead of worrying about all of it, and that's what we were doing until Ethan decided to come bother us.

He ruffled my hair with a playful smile on display.

I scowled, patting my hair down.

"Hey, Claire," Ethan nodded in her direction, a new expression on his face. His lips turned upwards into a true smile as Claire greeted him back.

"Hi, Ethan." She smiled back before returning her gaze to the screen.

I groaned as Ethan jumped over the back of our couch and sat himself in between Claire and I. "Am I interrupting something?" Ethan asked innocently, throwing his arms over our shoulders.

I rolled my eyes, punching him in the side.

"Yes!" I exclaimed.

"No, not at all. We were just watching a movie." Claire said over me, making me frown.

This was our girl time, not the time for Ethan and Claire to catch up while a movie is playing and I'm the only one watching it.

"E, come on. Get up. Leave." I grunted as I struggled to push him off of our couch. It was no use. "What did you eat for dinner? Bricks?" I asked, breathless.

Ethan chuckled and pulled me into his side, giving me a noogie. I yelped in pain. "Ow, Ethan!" I shouted, elbowing him in the ribs.

He was laughing when he stopped and placed a kiss on the top of my head. "C'mon! You know I love you. I just want to spend some quality time with my baby sister."

I rolled my eyes but reluctantly curled into his side. After moments of continuously arguing, I finally gave in. I couldn't say no to Ethan. Ever.

"Fine! But you're watching Titanic with us and you're holding us when we cry." I ordered.

Ethan pulled both of us into him and planted kisses on our temples, a low chuckle resonating from him. "Always,"

---

By the time Titanic ended, Claire and I were sobbing ugly sobs and we didn't care who saw.

Jack died...

Ethan's shirt was soaked with both of our tears. "It's okay, guys, Jack wasn't real. He's a fictional character." Ethan tried to assure us.

Our cries ceased as both of us looked up at him with tear-stained faces. Claire glared at him before slapping him on the shoulder. "You aren't helping!" She bellowed before throwing her arms around his neck. We began to sob again. I clutched Ethan's shirt like my life depended on it.

Because right now, all that mattered was the pain in my heart from Jack's death. Fiction or not.

---

After our crying session with the "comfort" of Ethan, Claire fell asleep on him, her arms wrapped around his neck. I sat up so he could carry her upstairs to my bedroom. I watched as he slowly picked up her tiny body. She squirmed a bit, but her grasp on him was extremely tight.

As Ethan walked upstairs, I bit back a yawn and began to clean up. I put our now-empty bowl of popcorn in the kitchen sink and padded back into the living room to fold up our blankets and put them in the storage ottoman. By the time I finished, Ethan was making his way back downstairs.

My yawn finally escaped as he neared me. "Alright, Evan, it's your turn." He smiled cheekily before picking me up bridal style. I curled into his chest as he carried me upstairs and into my bedroom. He laid me down gently into my bed, just as he's done countless times before.

Ethan was always there for me.

We had a certain bond that nothing and no one could break. Ethan has always carried me to my bed when it was late at night.

I let Ethan put my blankets over me. My eyes fluttered shut from exhaustion as soon as he laid me down. I could hear Claire snoring quietly next to me, her breathes slow and steady.

Ethan leaned down to kiss my forehead. A small smile made its way onto my lips.

"Goodnight, Evan," Ethan whispered quietly.

"Goodnight, E." I whispered back before sleep took me in.

---

How do you feel?

Because I love Ethan.

He's mine if he ever becomes real.

Please don't forget to VOTE AND COMMENT!

XOXO,
elizabeth-archer.